I will be speaking on today’s topic
when it’s was brought up that a person will feel “bad” if they found out the
truth about the government.
I will admit, I am a person who
will live by the philosophy, ignorance is bliss. Now this means, basically whatever
you don’t know, you don’t have to worry about. However, there is just some
information I would like to know. I said if I had the power of the Guyges Ring,
which was to turn into invisible, I would sneak into the Pentagon and find out
the secrets the government is hiding. The rebuttal to that statement was, if
someone was to do that, they will end up feeling “bad” supposedly.
Now assuming “bad” is being used as
a word that means morally responsible to act, I do not believe that I would
feel that way or would have a reason to feel that way. There are things I can
learn that I would feel “bad” about, such as if I knew (and had physical proof)
that my friend’s significant other is, was, or has cheated on him/her. However,
I do not understand why someone would feel responsible to do anything with the
information acquired about the government.
The government is a great power
that has been doing whatever they wanted for a very long time. Learning
everything that have done, and are doing, won’t change anything. If you decide
to go off on your own tell the world what you have learned, if it’s that big of
a secret, trust me when I say you won’t be around long enough to see “justice”.
I personally won’t feel obligated
to do much of anything. Just because you know that the government have been
taking questionable actions, doesn’t mean you have stop them or tell people. It’s
been going on all this without your help. If you haven’t been knowing helping
them in these acts, why feel bad? What does knowing that something beyond your
control is going on have to do with your everyday actions? HYPOTHETICALLY: What
could I possibly learn that would require me to take action against the government
of my own country?
Why wouldn't you feel bad? Why wouldn't you tell people? Why wouldn't you take action? Just imagine if every person before you chose to keep any information or knowledge about anything to themselves, life would be MORE unfair than it already is. In Plato's Republic, there's a part of the book that explains what a true king or ruler should be, ideally. The king moves through a cave and proceeds to the light. As the figure moves through the cave and to the light, their intelligence or knowledge of everything around them increases. As the figure reaches the final stage, Socrates recommends that the figure return to the cave and enlighten the other cave members. By returning to the cave, the figure understands that "knowledge is bliss" also. Because if everyone has knowledge and can prepare for everything or more than they initially could, bliss will follow. It would seem almost unjust to not share information about anything.
ReplyDeleteHYPOTHETICAL ANSWER: You don't know what you don't know. Wouldn't it be great if someone told you about something that would require action against your government ( if need be) ?
Actual response... It's not my problem. Make it my problem and then I would take action, but other wise I am indifferent.
DeleteI understand what you're saying completely. Knowing a secret by going into the Pentagon does not mean that person has to reveal them. Most likely government conspiricist already reveals secrets about the government but we deem them crazy and do not pay attention to them. However, that does not deem them unresponsible, at least to their subconscious. If a person does sneak into the Pentagon and learn secrets abut the United States, or even the world, their first idea would be to reveal the secret to the world. If the person sits down and really think about this idea, they will realize how bad of an idea that is. Even though this is true, the real pain is the guiilt and torture on the subconscious mind. If the person does not become a govenrment conspiricist and go crazy, then they live in constant fear and/ or solitude. Ignorance is a bliss, without it, one's mind can go crazy, no matter how nonchalant to life they are.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I understand the point you are getting at, I disagree with the philosophy "ignorance is bliss". But at the same time some issues that we are faced with our out of our control. For example, I personally cannot end world hunger. There is no way. But I can be aware of the situation and donate to organizations or work in my community. I believe that many Americans are raised with this notion that we can change the world and do anything. That might be true to a certain extent, but there are just so many things that are impossible for one person to do. I think it is important to know the truth about issues, even if they do not effect us. Knowing about world hunger and poverty allows us to appreciate the things we have in our life even though it does not effect us directly. Our government is not perfect by any means. Finding out harsh truths about the system is not something we want to deal with. But it is important to factor in all of the benefits of our government.
ReplyDelete